PRRIDE

Positioning Regions and Regionalism in a Democratic Europe/Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence

01.09.2015 bis 31.08.2018

The Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence (JMCE) builds on the work by the Chair holder between 2011 and 2014. The Centre's focus is on the role of regions and regionalisation in relation to European Integration. “Region” applies to sub-state units, but also to transborder macro-regions. Processes of regionalisation and decentralization are under way in many EU member states; they are to some extent triggered by European Integration. Today many regions aim to become more active players in EU affairs at both the domestic and EU level (e.g. within the subsidiarity monitoring process). Finally, we observe the increasing formation of transborder macro-regions as a key strategy in the EU’s regional policy (see, e.g. the Danube macro-region). Thus, the JCME focuses on recent talks about “Europe with the Regions” and aims to conceptualized this approach, especially with regards to the democratic quality of multilevel governance.